Red Sky At Morning - DK4 (3 page)

“Well.” The girl gave her a half grin. “You never know, you know?

But most people who come in here, they’re pretty radical already.”

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The door to the shop opened, and the girl looked up. “Excuse me,”

she said. “If you need something, just holler.” She ducked between the racks to greet the newcomers, male and female voices rising in a thickly accented question as she approached.

Kerry turned back to her rack, and took the bustier off the hook, holding it up. It laced all the way down and was cut to fit very tight, studs outlining the breasts adding a blatantly sexy touch. “Hm.” She nibbled her lip. “But what on earth would you do with it, Kerry?” She started to put the hanger back, then she stopped, and turned, heading for the cashier’s desk. “I’ll find a place to wear it even if it’s just to give Dar a good laugh in our living room.”

The two other customers were arguing over long, leather pants, and the sales clerk looked glad enough to leave their side when she saw Kerry approaching. “You going to go for it?”

“Yeah.” Kerry produced a wry grin, along with her credit card.

“You only live once, right?”

“Not according to my
abuela
,” the girl answered promptly. “She says we all live many, many times. She knows.”

Kerry leaned on the counter. “How? How does she know?”

The clerk presented her with a charge slip and a pen with the head of Ozzy Osborne on it. “She says she knows because every time she gets a cat, it’s her ex-husband coming back all over again.”

They both laughed, and Kerry signed the slip as she shook her head, while the girl neatly folded the bustier and put it in a bag. Kerry pushed the slip back across the table and picked up her bag, turning fully to look at the two other shoppers for the first time.

Ah.
She blinked, and gave the two a brief smile as she squeezed past them. Hoping she didn’t catch anything on one of their many piercings or the four inch nails the girl was waving around, Kerry conceded that the clerk certainly did have a point about her usual clientele.

Ah well.
She pushed the door open and emerged into the cool evening air, checking her watch as she started down the sidewalk again.

“Coming back as a cat, huh?” She chuckled, as she headed in the direction of one of her favorite sushi dives. “Boy, people believe in some weird stuff.”

She swung her bag over her shoulder and continued ambling along, peeking into windows. She approached one set, with a bench in front of them. The bench held a long limbed man sprawled across it, apparently just enjoying the cool night air. “Evening.” Kerry greeted him a she passed.

“Hey, cute lady.” The man responded, in an amiable tone. “C’mere.

You got great skin. Want something gorgeous on it?”

Kerry glanced at the window, which featured the word Tattoo prominently on it. “Not tonight, thanks.”

“Ah.” The man straightened up and glanced at her, his face 12
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interesting, and shrewd. “You want one, c’mon. Admit it.”

Something made her slow down, and she paused, glancing curiously at the man’s skin art, which covered pretty much every inch of his exposed body. Some of the marks were bright and very colorful, some were more faded, but none were hideous. “Do you do those?”

“Sure.” the man said. “This is my shop.” He gestured behind him with a thumb. “Wanna come see some etchings?” He waggled an eyebrow at her, but grinned.

Kerry hesitated, then glanced at her watch. “Not tonight,” she said.

“I’ve got some friends waiting on me for dinner.”

“Uh huh.”

“But thanks for the offer.” Kerry ginned back at him, then she turned and continued on her way, before her curiosity could get her into some real trouble. “Etching, huh?” She chuckled and put the idea right out of her mind. “You’ll be thinking about a motorcycle next, you radical nerd, you.”

Five minutes longer down the sidewalk, she spotted Colleen headed her way. Pushing the thought of tattoos and Harleys from her mind, she called, “Hey!”

“Hey, girl.” Colleen caught her up, the redhead hooking her arm through Kerry’s with casual familiarity. “Ready to party? Ray’s on his way.”

“More than ready,” Kerry admitted. “Today was too damn long.”

She tucked her bag under her arm. “Let’s go get some naked, raw fish and have our way with them.”

“Oo…aren’t we the wee wild thing!” Colleen laughed. “Such a rebel you are.”

Kerry chuckled as they headed for the sushi place. “Yeah? Wait ’til you see what I got in this bag. You won’t believe it.”

AS SHE STARED into the mirror with a scowl, Dar twitched her collar straight for the fourth time. Not that there was anything wrong with the burgundy silk business suit; the soft folds draped nicely over her tall frame, sleeves cut specifically to her measure, coming neatly past her wrists. The skirt was just above her knees, and with her tan, she could have gotten away without wearing hose. But she hadn’t, dutifully donning the smoky-dark nylons Kerry had tucked into her bag.

“C’mon, Dar,” she repeated to her reflection. “Just pretend it’s a staff meeting.” With over a thousand people. Dar picked up the towel she’d used after her shower and wiped the sweat off her palms. She’d never admit to anyone just how much she hated public, really public speaking. She hadn’t even told Kerry about it. But here, alone in her hotel room, barely an hour before she had to address the stockholders, she could admit to herself that she was scared senseless.

“Jackass.” She glowered into the pale blue eyes in the mirror. A
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knock sounded on the door, and she almost hit the popcorn ceiling before she gave herself a shake and stalked toward the entrance. She opened the door to find a plant wanting admittance. “Hello?”

Brown eyes peeked out from between the stems of some extremely gorgeous roses. “Ms. Roberts? This came for you.”

Dar surveyed the arrangement and felt her eyebrows lift. She backed up. “C’mon in.” She watched as the bellman carefully put the basket on the room’s small table, then back away cautiously. “Thanks.”

Dar had taken a bill from her wallet and she now handed it to him, ignoring his departure as she explored her new decoration.

It was way too cute and classy for Alastair, she decided, plucking a small teddy bear from the center. “And he wouldn’t send you, now would he?” She sniffed one of the blooms, which was large and perfect, then realized some of the roses weren’t real. Curiously, she touched one, then unwrapped the foil top to reveal rich, milky-looking chocolate. “Ah.” Cheerfully, she took a bite, then fished around until she rooted out the small card. She opened it and peered at the writing, not really needing the confirmation of the sender.

Hey, sweetie.

Give them heck.

I love you.

K

“Aw.” Dar felt her entire body warm, a gentle flush that chased away the chills she’d been feeling not five minutes earlier. “You’re something else, you know that?” She took another bite of chocolate and considered the roses, then selected one and carefully broke its stem off just below the bloom. A few steps took her to her overnight bag, and she fished inside it, coming up with a safety pin and neatly pinning the rose on her lapel.

Her eyes then fell on the tiny teddy, and she very briefly considered tucking it into her pocket, a sudden smile appearing when she imagined the collective reaction of the stockholders if they saw the little toy peeking out of her jacket. “Oh no...no, Dar, that would just blow that little old reputation of yours right out the window and into the Hudson River.” But she laughed, the light sound echoing softly in the room.

She went over to where her breakfast lay mostly untasted on the bedside table and selected a croissant, cutting it open and covering it with butter and jelly. She ate that and washed it down with a swallow of coffee, then clicked off the television that had been playing soundlessly in the background and took one last look in the mirror.

Chin up, shoulders back. Dar straightened and felt her usual confident attitude drop over her in a comforting sensation. She picked up her slim leather portfolio and headed out the door, hearing it close 14
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behind her as she walked down the carpeted hallway, her medium-heeled shoes sinking just slightly into the pile.

The elevator had many nicely dressed people in it. Most of them glanced at her as she entered, and most of the guys sucked in their guts.

Dar graced them with a smile, but kept silent, folding her hands over her folder with its distinctive company logo stamped in leather on the outside.

The trip down seemed to last forever, in that elongated awkwardness that elevators often produce. But they did finally make it, and Dar exited the small space, moving into the lobby toward the convention center, where large groups of men and women were gathered near the double doors.

“Dar!”

She turned and waited for Alastair to catch up to her. The CEO was dressed in a dark-blue suit and red tie, and he smiled at Dar as he took her by the elbow. “Morning.”

“Morning, morning.” Alastair ushered her through the door and up one broad aisle toward the podium. “Sleep well?”

“Fine,” Dar replied as they moved up to the table set on the elevated stage. “Did we get the—ah.” She laid her portfolio down and took over the keyboard of the laptop on the table, rattling the keys with a sense of comforting familiarity. “Good,” she murmured, reviewing the data flashing across the LED screen. The system was hooked to an overhead projector, which would allow her to show the stockholders real-time data moving across their new network. “Looks good.”

Alastair glanced at the figures. “You’d know.” He patted her shoulder. “I’m going to get everyone settled, then I’ll introduce you.

Hey, nice rose.”

“Thanks.” Dar glanced at it. “And thanks for dinner last night.

Damn good pasta.”

“Almost as good as the company.” Alastair returned the compliment courteously. “And speaking of which, don’t let Bob run you ragged tonight, all right? He loves this town and loves to show it off, but he gets a little too enthusiastic about its vices sometimes.”

Dar looked up from her data and cocked her head. “Is that a warning?” She watched her boss nod. “All right. I’ll keep that in mind.

Now c’mon, let’s get this show on the road.” She concentrated on setting up the networking monitors and ignored Alastair’s walking over to the podium.

“Ladies and gentleman?” The CEO laid his hands confidently on the wood surface. “If you’d like to take your seats, we’ll get started.”

The crowd bustled into place, scrapes and scuffs overwhelming the conversation as people settled into the comfortable chairs. Almost immediately, a young red-haired man stood up and raised his hand.

“Mr. McLean?”

Alastair looked over at him. “Yes? Thomas Bantelberg, isn’t it?”

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The man blinked a moment, obviously not expecting the CEO to recognize him. “Yes. Listen, we’re all really interested in the new network. We don’t want to hear a bunch of corporate BS today, if you don’t mind.” Several people laughed, but more nodded and faced forward.

“Well,” Alastair leaned on the podium, “you know, I had a feeling everyone was going to feel like that.” He had their attention, and the room settled down, everyone listening to him intently. “These stockholder meetings are usually pretty dry, huh?” A round of polite laughter. “I know how much the industry has been talking about our new infrastructure, and I thought that it would be a strong topic of conversation at this meeting.” He straightened. “You all have questions like is it what it’s advertised to be, and how are we going to use it, right?”

Nods.

“Well, good.” Alastair rubbed his hands briskly. “Because I can’t tell you any of that.”

Silence.

“So I brought someone here to do the corporate presentation who can.” He glanced over at Dar, who had finished fiddling with her hardware and was quietly waiting. “Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like to present to you our chief information officer and the designer of the new network, Dar Roberts.”

Dar forced her legs into motion and gave her boss a curt nod as he relinquished the podium.

Then she wondered what all the noise was. Startled, her eyes lifted to see the entire crowd standing up, yelling and waving at her. She looked at Alastair in alarm, only to see the CEO hiding a smirk behind one hand. Only then did she realize that what she was facing was a standing ovation.

Jesus. Now what?

Finally, they shut up and she was able to collect herself, waiting for everyone to sit down before she opened her mouth. Then she shut it again, because she had no idea what to say to the huge, faceless mob, whose attention was now focused on her with fierce intentness.

Well, she had to say something before they all fell asleep, didn’t she?

“The agenda requires me to spend some time at this point outlining the basic plan and infrastructure of why we implemented a new network,”

Dar finally said. “But I’d bet you’d rather just see it, right?”

There was a moment’s silence, beating against her face, then a laugh.
Ah. That was good.
“Right.” Dar clicked on the overhead and behind her, a slim gray screen exploded into life. “This is the deal...”

“OOH, I THOUGHT she was going to choke there.” Kerry had her chin on her fists and her eyes glued to the IDLN broadcast of her lover 16
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explaining in terse detail the advantages of their new net.

“Mm...” Duks was sitting on her desk, and Mark was leaning next to her. “Public speaking is not an easy thing for Dar, I do not think.”

“Nice suit,” Mark commented. “Crowd likes her.”

Kerry watched Dar’s body language, which to her seemed almost painfully stiff. After a few minutes, though, her lover relaxed a little.

“That’s better, she’s loosening up some.”

“Yeah,” the MIS chief agreed. “Boy, she looks nervous. Never thought I’d see that.”

“C’mon, honey,” Kerry whispered to the screen, crossing her fingers and willing Dar to calm down. For a brief instant, the blue eyes lifted from the crowd and glanced right at the IDLN transmit camera, and they were eye to eye; then Dar went back to her information, scrolling expertly through a series of benchmarks and displaying a test of the new network’s capabilities. “Atta girl.” She noticed the rose pinned to her boss’s jacket and smiled.